Sensex snaps 4-day losing streak, Bharti Airtel surges 11%

Oil marketing companies cheered weak crude prices and were among the top gainers.

New Delhi: Indian shares rose today amid volatile trade, snapping four straight sessions of fall. A firmer rupee and a fall in global oil prices supported the sentiment. The Sensex rose 186 points or 0.55% to regain the 34,000 mark while Nifty settled 0.77% higher at 10,224.

Oil marketing companies cheered weak crude prices and were among the top gainers. Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd or BPCL rose nearly 5% while those of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd or HPCL surged 7%. Indian Oil shares surged 5.5%.

Analysts however remain cautious on Indian markets. The gains in Indian shares may be short-lived, said Sudhakar Pattabiraman, head of research operations, William O’Neil India. “If markets have fallen for four days, people would obviously take the opportunity to take some positions, hoping things will be different, but this is not sustainable. Overall, we still don’t see a great reason for people to buy stocks or take positions at this point,” Pattabiraman added.

Sentiment in Indian markets has been sour in recent weeks after a string of defaults at a major non-banking financial company sparked concerns of a liquidity crunch.

Among other top gainers, HDFC shares rose 3% while those of lender IndusInd Bank also advanced 3%. Among top Sensex gainers, Bharti Airtel surged 11%, Asian Paints rose 4.5% while HUL rose 2%.

IT stocks weakened due to a stronger rupee. Infosys fell over 1%. Wipro shares ended flat ahead of its quarterly results.